The present invention relates to bearings and methods of preventing bearing outer race creepage. One prior art embodiment utilizes a ball bearing which is welded to the outer race of the bearing. The bearing is installed in a lead-end bracket housing. A tab is assembled to the bracket housing adjacent to the bearing cavity via a self-tapping screw. Since the bearing on this prior art design is recessed below the surface of the bearing cavity hub and the tab, the ball, which is attached to the outer bearing race, extends above this surface. Thus, interference with the tab occurs and eliminates radial rotation. The design flaw of this "welded" approach is the potential damage to the outer race due to heating generated in the welding process. Bearing manufacturers will not warranty this extreme modification of their design.
Another design flaw pertains to the motor shaft-to-bearing interface. Since the lead-end bearing must be "pre-installed" into the bearing cavity, the shaft bearing journal must therefore "slip-fit" into the bearing inner race. This method contradicts the bearing manufacturer's recommendations of "press-fitting" the bearings onto the rotating member of the machine. In other words, unless the bearing inner-race is pressed onto the shaft journal, "wallowing" or "slipping" of the shaft-bearing interface occurs. This results frequently in premature failures.
What is needed, then, is a device for overcoming these problems, and which particularly avoid problems associated with heat due to welding.